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KaVir · 05-31-2006, 05:54 AM

I'm not sure if that'll make any real difference. What may well make a difference is if you're requesting exclusive rights (or the actual copyrights) for the areas - I've no idea if you are or not, but I know some commercial muds do that.

I don't think that is too a serious concern, as the builders could still take their work elsewhere (unless they've given up the rights to their work, in which case I agree that it would give many builders pause for thought). Having said that, if a builder has been burnt too many times in the past by failed muds, they may well be wary about risking working for a non-established mud.

That's true. Coders who join in the early stages of development have the opportunity to make more of an impact on the game than they would at later stages, which can be a big incentive. Builders don't really have that incentive, and their work isn't going to be appreciated until the game is open to the players, so they're perhaps less likely to show an interest early on.

You'll see the same issue with Diku derivatives planning to have completely original worlds - those that slowly replace the stock areas with original ones tend to have a much easier time than those that rip out all of the stock areas to start with and then build up from nothing.

Unfortunately you don't really have the luxury of that the choice. You could churn out a bunch of low-quality filler areas (to be replaced or polished in the future when you've got more time and more builders), but that could well do the image of your mud more harm than good for the sort of game you're building.

05-31-2006, 05:54 AM	#5
KaVir Legend Join Date: Apr 2002 Name: Richard Home MUD: God Wars II Posts: 2,052	I'm not sure if that'll make any real difference. What may well make a difference is if you're requesting exclusive rights (or the actual copyrights) for the areas - I've no idea if you are or not, but I know some commercial muds do that. I don't think that is too a serious concern, as the builders could still take their work elsewhere (unless they've given up the rights to their work, in which case I agree that it would give many builders pause for thought). Having said that, if a builder has been burnt too many times in the past by failed muds, they may well be wary about risking working for a non-established mud. That's true. Coders who join in the early stages of development have the opportunity to make more of an impact on the game than they would at later stages, which can be a big incentive. Builders don't really have that incentive, and their work isn't going to be appreciated until the game is open to the players, so they're perhaps less likely to show an interest early on. You'll see the same issue with Diku derivatives planning to have completely original worlds - those that slowly replace the stock areas with original ones tend to have a much easier time than those that rip out all of the stock areas to start with and then build up from nothing. Unfortunately you don't really have the luxury of that the choice. You could churn out a bunch of low-quality filler areas (to be replaced or polished in the future when you've got more time and more builders), but that could well do the image of your mud more harm than good for the sort of game you're building.